FRANCE

Château-m

Château Montravel produces Château-m wines.
Château de Montravel is located between the eastern side of St Emillion and Castillon, along the Dordogne Valley and it is part of the greater Bergerac region.

HISTORY OF THE ESTATE
The first Château de Montravel dates back from the 100 Years’ war. The 100 Years’ war is a serie of conflicts between the Plantagenet, rulers of the Kingdom of England, and the Valois, rulers of the Kingdom of France, both families fighting to acquire the French crown. In 1453 after the Castillon battle, the English are ousted out of the region and France. Château de Montravel is erected.
From the 16th century, Moncaret, a nearby village, and Montravel become a protestant stronghold. With the revocation of the Edit of Nantes, which guaranteed religious freedom; Moncaret and Montravel are destroyed during the ensuing religious war in France in the course of the 17th century.
In the 18th century a new castle is built and transformed in the 19th century. In 1936 Château de Montravel gives its name to the appellation Montravel situated between Bergerac and Castillon.
The then owner of Château de Montravel decides to sell his vineyards and keep the building.
In 2008 Philippe and Annette Blandinieres purchase Château de Montravel. Philippe is an industrialist while Annette is a painter and sculptor. They restored the Chateau and started farming olives and truffles on the estate.
Philippe's dream of making wine with his friend Ugo Arguti, the former winemaker of Château Fombrauge (Grand Cru Classé Saint Emilion), becomes a reality in 2011 when he purchases a small Semillon garden vineyard in the Dordogne valley.
The empty garage is then turned into a cellar and the wine making adventure starts with the first harvest in 2012. The first harvest produces 1 960 bottles and each bottle is numbered by hand.
In 2013 a 1.5 hectare Merlot vineyard, located on the same limestone plateau as the Semillon vineyard, is acquired and the cellar extended and modernized with temperature controlled tanks, a sorting table and flex tanks for micro-oxygenation.

Château-m PHILOSOPHY
Château-m's philosophy is the respect of traditions and nature.
Respect of the terroir with a balanced approach to viticulture.
Respect for the grapes through selection.
Respect of the wine through care and nurture during the aging process.
Château-m follows the same production methods as the greatest and most famous Châteaux from Bordeaux. This is achieved by limiting yields, hand harvesting the crop, selecting fruits one by one and utilizing modern wine making techniques. The aim is to make wine with PASSION, NOBLESSE and ELEGANCE. The two small vineyards only cover 2.5 hectares of land in total and they are perceived as private gardens by the Blandiniere family.

THE APPELLATION
Montravel is an appellation from Bergerac and it is one of the first appellations created in 1936 because of its exceptional terroir. White Montravel wines must be a blend of Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle. Red Montravel wines must be a blend of a minimum of 50% Merlot, blended with Cabernet sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Côt. Both types of wines, white and red, must be a blend therefore no single varietal is allowed to bear the Montravel appellation. This is the reason why Château-m wines bear the ‘Vin de France’ denomination.

WHO IS INVOLVED AT Château-m
Philippe and Ugo are in charge of viticulture and wine making.
Annette designed the label, she is also in charge of communication as well making great food for the laborers on hard working days such as during harvest.
Peter, is a family friend and Christophe and Tobias are Philippe and Annete’s sons who provide a helping hand whenever there is a need for strong arms, especially during harvest, bottling and barrel cleaning.